Circle Of Life

By Aishwarya Belwal

About 15 years ago, there was a girl named Cynthia. She was rich but still her parents were not letting her get a pet. But on her 12th birthday, they surprised her with a puppy. It was the happiest moment of her life. She named her Lily. She would take good care of lily. She would bathe her, walk her, feed her just like a baby. About 3 months later, she wakes up one morning only to find out that her beloved dog is missing. Her father tried his best to find lily, but they couldn’t find any trace of her. Cynthia couldn’t stop crying but what else could she do. Her parents got her other pets, but they were not Lily. She developed trauma of her missing pet and promised herself not to get another dog all her life because she respected and adored lily so much that she knew no other animal can take her place.

15 years later, Cynthia grew up and became a lawyer. But her childhood dream was to become a veterinarian. After what happened with Lily, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to see any animal in pain, let alone treat them. There was an animal abuse case going on and she decided to take the case after giving it a lot of thought. She was meeting up different people involved with the case. There was a poor old guy in his 40’s who was one of the people who filed the lawsuit. Cynthia visits his home. His home had one room that was shabby, broken and it looked like he needed money. There was mess everywhere but what caught Cynthia’s eye was a young girl, probably a teenager, lying down in bed. She looked sick, like real sick. Cynthia asks about her well being and Jimmy, the old guy says it is his daughter who has been battling leukaemia for years and that’s why he needs money. The old guy has tears in his eyes but doesn’t shed a single tear. Cynthia felt bad for him and was a little uncomfortable until she saw a dirty, old pink dog collar.

She asks if Jimmy has any dogs. Jimmy says he used to own a female golden retriever dog, but she passed away years ago. That collar belonged to her. But he had her puppies and their puppies. He used to sell them and make money on side. Cynthia was against this kind of illegal, unhealthy breeding but she couldn’t feel anything but empathy for the poor guy. He had no money, but he wanted to save his daughter, so it is not wrong, right? Cynthia justified his actions in her mind and left his home after asking some questions related to case. She wanted to help him. But there was one thing she wanted to ask him but couldn’t think of a polite way to ask. The guy was poor right? So how could he afford a dog of that breed. She thought it was silly of her to think that much.

But that pink dog collar looked awfully familiar. Maybe one of my friends have a dog with similar collar, she thought. About the case she was working on, a group of people filed lawsuit against a famous brand that makes dog food, accusing that the food contains carcinogenic elements. Jimmy was one of them. He lost his dog to cancer too. Cynthia prepared many questions to solidify the arguments. She asked Jimmy that how did he get that dog? Jimmy said he got him from an adoption centre. He couldn’t afford it but his daughter insisted on adopting Minnie. He said that he treated Minnie well, but her health started deteriorating even after consuming that popular dog food. Many dog owners came forward to file a case, but he thought it was too much of a hassle. Then his daughter fell sick, and the expenses were getting higher.

He lost Minnie but she had babies and he started breeding more of them to sell. He wasn’t exactly proud of it, but he had to do it for his daughter. Out of all the dog owners, Jimmy had the saddest past and this is what made it so important for Cynthia to win this case. With the corporation of other victims and Jimmy, they won the case and that brand had to pay a hefty amount to them. Jimmy wanted to thank her, so he invited Cynthia to his home for a meal. Normally she would have declined but she felt pain of Jimmy and went ahead with it. This time his daughter was awake but still looked weak. Jimmy was preparing food and also cleaned the house a little bit. He thanked Cynthia again and again and was telling her about the treatments his daughter will be able to get now. Cynthia sat beside his daughter and that pink dog collar caught her eye again. This time she picked it up. It looked old and torn but something sent chills down her spine. It had Lily written on it. No way is that her lost lily’s collar. Then she connected all the dots and was certain that maybe it was Lily. Maybe Jimmy stole her, maybe somebody else stole her and Jimmy got her illegally. Everything was a possibility now. Jimmy had told her the name of the adoption centre earlier during investigation and Cynthia googled it. It was never there; it didn’t even exist. Cynthia felt like passing out. But she got a hold of herself. Jimmy asked if something is bothering her. She said that she just needs some rest. Jimmy was on cloud nine, no doubt about that. So, he let out a secret.

Jimmy told her that Minnie was not from adoption centre. He stole Minnie from a rich girl 13 years ago. A good friend of Jimmy was a servant at that house. He saw the dog and planned to sell her babies. He stole the dog and gave it to Jimmy. But Jimmy’s daughter was attached to the dog and dog also loved her, maybe because she reminded her of her owner. Jimmy and his friend sold her babies illegally and started making money. But then she got tumour in her uterus. The doctor said that it is due to continuous birth of babies. Her body was not strong enough for that. Jimmy was angry at Minnie, but his daughter was fond of her. So, he kept Minnie at home and started selling babies of her babies. Everything was going well till he found out about his daughter’s sickness.

All the empathy that Cynthia had for Jimmy vanished. She wasn’t sure what to feel anymore. She was too stunned to confront the devil who stole her beloved Lily. But she kept her cool and asked him where the babies of Cynthia are? He said they are at his friend’s house and begged her not to report him. Cynthia wanted to but she wanted to take her time. Afterall her Lily is gone. It will not bring her back but now she had to think about the babies of Cynthia. If anything, being a lawyer has taught her, is meticulous calculating of weighing out her options.

Cynthia visits where the puppies and dogs are kept. She could see the resemblance of lily in them. She was thinking of every option and what could she do to make their lives better. She called some animal activists and they all put them up in real adoption centres. Cynthia couldn’t sleep that night. She kept on thinking of all the horrible things that lily must have gone through. At one point, Cynthia was blaming herself, the 12 years old who was irresponsible enough to lose a puppy. But could all the blaming bring lily back or maybe she just wanted a closure with one and only pet she ever had in her whole life.

After a few months, she visits the adoption centre and she finds out that all of the dogs, both puppies and adults have been adopted except one. It took a lot of courage for her to go back and look for the dogs. But the last puppy waiting to be adopted, was just so sad. She never thought of adopting him as per the promise she made when she lost lily. But this puppy belongs to lily in a way, right? Same lineage and all. But again, came back her trauma of losing lily. She gets in her car and visits Jimmy. To her surprise, jimmy isn’t so cheerful given that he can afford the treatment right? but doctors told jimmy that his daughter doesn’t have much time now.

Cynthia wanted to say all the bad but right things to his face. Karma is real. But she chose not to and left without saying anything. Universe had answered on her behalf, she felt like that. Cynthia’s parents call her up and remind her that she was supposed to have lunch with them. She wasn’t that sad but a tinge of sadness couldn’t leave her. Cynthia greets her parents and her parents tell her that they have a surprise for her.

They bring out a puppy that looked oddly familiar. Yes, she knew those eyes. It was the last one remaining in the adoption home. She was relived, stressed and joyous all at once. According to her parents, Her fear of getting and losing pets was ridiculous and it was about time that she got over it. So she accepted this adorable gift and promised to love her even more. She named the puppy Jojo.

The thing is that we all have bad memories related to a person, living being, object, activity. Instead of running away, try and create new memories. Things never happen the same way twice. that’s why give it a chance.

By Aishwarya Belwal